Course Description:This seminar is an exploration of the world’s major historical pandemics, such as the Bubonic Plague and the Great Influenza, an investigation of recent pandemic threats, such as Avian flu and SARS, and finally an examination of worldwide public health pandemic preparedness. The course considers how pandemics are created through biological and social phenomenon and how science and technology has evolved over time to address epidemics. The course specifically examines the current methods of outbreak investigation, disease tracking and prevention of widespread epidemics. Students engage in field epidemiologic techniques to determine the cause of a campus-wide epidemic and develop strategies for pandemic prevention.